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Vulcan
Description: Surak, founder of modern Vulcan civilisation Description: First contact with Humans in 2063 :This article is about the Vulcan species. For information about the planet Vulcan, see Vulcan (planet). The Vulcans (also known as "Vulcanian") are a humanoid civilization responsible in a large part for the founding of the United Federation of Planets. The Vulcans originate from the planet Vulcan in the 40 Eridani A system. History and Politics Also see: Vulcan History Culturally one of the most fascinating species in the Beta Quadrant, the Vulcans were once an extremely violent and emotional people who waged almost constant warfare on one another. They believed in a variety of gods, such as war, peace and death. As their level of technology improved, the Vulcans eventually reached a point where their violent nature threatened species extinction. In an effort to avoid this fate, a Vulcan named Surak developed a new philosophy thereby igniting the Time of Awakening; Surak maintained that the root cause of all the problems on Vulcan lay in the uncontrolled outpouring of the people's emotions. His followers swore to live their lives by an ethical system devised by Surak and based purely on logical principles. All expression of emotions, negative or positive, was completely forbidden. Although this new philosophy spread rapidly across Vulcan, a minority rejected Surak's ideals. A destructive war began including the use of atomic bombs and among the victims was Surak himself. Eventually, however, those who opposed logic left Vulcan and founded colonies elsewhere - most notably on the planet Romulus, where they founded what eventually became the Romulan Star Empire. (ENT: "Awakening"; TOS: "Balance of Terror", "[[The Enterprise Incident|The Enterprise Incident]]"; TNG: "Unification, Part I & Part II", "Gambit, Part I & Part II) One of the first of the current powers to discover warp drive, the Vulcans conducted a series of survey missions to the Sol system, as early as 1957. (ENT: "Carbon Creek") The official first contact between Vulcans and Humans came on April 5, 2063 when a Vulcan survey ship detected the warp flight of Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix. The Vulcans met with Cochrane at his launch site on the day following the flight. (Star Trek: First Contact) The Vulcans eventually became Earth's "big brother" in a way, advising Earth officials on how to proceed into the galaxy. The Vulcan High Command considered humans volatile and similar to Vulcans before the Time of Awakening, and so attempted to slow down humanity's move into the galaxy until the time was right. (ENT: "Broken Bow", "The Forge") By the 21st and 22nd Centuries, the Vulcans would have also had made contact with the Cardassians, Trill, Tholians, Klingons, and scores of other races. (DS9: "Destiny"; ENT: "Future Tense", "Broken Bow") In contrast to their tradition of peaceful exploration, the Vulcans have also had a long history of border skirmishes with the neighboring Andorians. The humans helped negotiate a peace between the two over the disputed Class D planetoid, known to the Vulcans as Paan Mokar. (ENT: "Cease Fire") In the 22nd century, the Vulcan High Command, once in charge only of space exploration and planetary defense, gained much more control over civilian affairs. Under the High Command's leadership, Vulcan policy toward other planets became more aggressive and interventionist, using the ancient monastery at P'Jem to spy on Andorian activities. Vulcan also became less tolerant of political and philosophical challenges towards the High Command's operations, notably engaging in purges of the Syrrannite group, who claimed that Vulcan society was no longer following the teachings of Surak. These tensions came to a head in the crisis called the Vulcan Reformation, which resulted in the overthrow of the High Command (and its leader, V'Las) and a restructuring of the Vulcan government under the leadership of Kuvak and T'Pau. (Although it was not known at the time, V'Las was secretly allied with the Romulans.) One of the first acts of the new government was to end the policy of holding back human expansion into the galaxy. (ENT: "The Forge", "Awakening", "Kir'Shara") As of the 23rd century, Vulcan had never been conquered in its collective memory. That memory goes so far back that Vulcans can't conceive of a conqueror. (TOS: "The Immunity Syndrome") Today, Vulcan remains one of the principal Federation members, and is deeply involved in all levels of that society. Their tradition of exploration has continued; in the 24th Century, a Vulcan ship was the first to make formal contact with a Gamma Quadrant civilization, upon encountering the Wadi. (DS9: "Move Along Home") Despite the enmity between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire, Vulcans have been attempting to forge a more cordial relationship with their cousins, ultimately hoping to reunify the two cultures. So far these efforts have met with little success. (TNG: "Unification, Part I & Part II") In the 24th century, the Vulcan ministry of security was known as the V'Shar. (TNG: "Gambit, Part II") Physiology While externally similar to Humans (the chief exceptions being the Vulcans' notably pointy ears and arched eyebrows), Vulcan anatomy differs radically. For instance, their heart is where a Human's liver would normally be, and beats several hundred times per minute, while their blood is copper-based and distinctly green in color. (TOS: "The Naked Time") Vulcans' hearing is very sensitive. Having evolved on a planet which is mostly desert, Vulcans have developed ways of surviving in desert conditions. For example, they can survive for several days without water and have inner eyelids which protect their eyes. (TOS: "Operation -- Annihilate!"; ENT: "The Forge") Vulcan females possess a heightened sense of smell. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Vulcans also have superior metabolism to humans. Caffeine has little effect on Vulcans. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice") They are also capable of surviving for long durations without food or sleep. Under stress, Vulcans can do without sleep for weeks. (TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome") Vulcans are on average three times physically stronger than humans and are noticably more agile. (DS9: "Take Me Out to the Holosuite") Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Vulcan physiology is the brain. The Vulcan brain is in direct control of most of the bodily functions, acting as a control unit for many organs. Vulcans have learned to gain conscious control of many of these functions, allowing them to regulate their bodies to a high degree by simple will power. When injured a Vulcan can go into a trance-like state, using this ability to concentrate all of his or her energy onto repairing the injury. Vulcans have also developed a technique called neuropressure that can be used to relax the mind and body. (ENT: "The Xindi") The substance trellium-D acts as a neurotoxin to Vulcans, destroying the neural pathways which control their emotions. Treatment must be provided quickly after exposure, otherwise the damage is irreversible. (ENT: "Impulse") Of course, the most famous aspect of the Vulcan brain is the inherent telepathic ability. Many Vulcans are natural touch-telepaths, though considerable training is required to utilise this ability fully. Stronger minds are capable of non-contact telepathy, usually over short distances and in a limited fashion. Some Vulcans have telepathic abilities which are far stronger than those of most members of their race. The rigorous mental training all Vulcans are given often allows such individuals to develop such abilities as emotional compulsion and psychic image projection. With the sole exception of Rao Vantika (who achieved it through technology), Vulcans are the only race who have ever performed a synaptic pattern displacement, or the transfer of one individual's consciousness into another. (DS9: "The Passenger") The psycho-suppression system responsible for the Vulcan cessation of emotions is located in the mesiofrontal cortex. Approximately every seven years, adult male Vulcans must endure pon farr, the Vulcan mating period. It is marked by intense emotions and primal urges (known as plak tow, or "blood fever") that can kill the Vulcan if not satisfied. For such an orderly society of quiet sobriety, the madness which accompanies the outbreak of pon farr is an unavoidable evil. (TOS: "Amok Time"; VOY: "Blood Fever"; ENT: "Bounty") Society Most Vulcans are pacifists, a condition that is dictated by their logical tendencies. The government on Vulcan is a representative democracy, which tends towards laissez faire, and the law system is designed to make laws easier to rescind than implement. Individual political advancement is based on meritocratic principles. (ENT: "Awakening") For an intensely logical race, the Vulcans do have a very firm spiritual belief. Though they do not seem to have a unifying religion, they believe in the katra, the soul and consciousness of a person, which can be transferred psionically prior to death. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) Development of a Vulcan's life of logic begins at a young age. Vulcan parents will utilize learning tools, such as pleenoks, to train their infants in primary logic. (VOY: "Human Error") Vulcan children will then learn to detach themselves from their emotions at an early age. As parents, Vulcans never shield their children from the truth. Doing so would only hinder their ability to cope with inevitable difficulties. A Vulcan parent's attachment to their children cannot be described as an emotion. They are part of the parent's identity and the parent is incomplete without them. (VOY: "Innocence") Vulcans have chosen mates by the age of seven, selected by their parents. The mates are joined in a ceremony that links them telepathically. When the two come of age, the link compels them to follow through with full marital rituals, which cement their relationship. (TOS: "Amok Time") The essence of their logical society is in arriving at the truth through logical process. Emotion is illogical, thus making them impure, and deterrent to truth. However, Vulcans are born with the same emotions that afflicted their violent ancestors, but the continual mind conditioning gives them the impassivity sought after by all Vulcans. Though not all can arrive at the ultimate pure logical state, the exacting process of mental control gives Vulcans enough to conform to the ideals of Vulcan society. The ultimate level of logical thought is achieved through the attainment of kohlinar. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) Vulcans believe knowledge to be the only defense against unknown dangers, and pursue them with the intellect and logic that makes them some of the finest scholars in the Federation. Their pursuit of knowledge and impassivity of emotion are the driving forces in a Vulcan's life. Vulcans consider death to be the completion of a journey. Therefore, they do not fear it happening. Culture and Tradition Vulcans were fermenting wines at least 300 years ago, circa 2070, or since before the United Federation of Planets was founded. This includes Vulcan port. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I") :This contradicts a previous statement made by Spock in TOS: "The Conscience of the King", where he notes: "My father's race was spared the dubious benefits of alcohol," when offered a glass of Saurian brandy by Dr. McCoy. T'Pol also noted in ENT: "Breaking the Ice", that Vulcans don't drink wine, indicating that perhaps Vulcan port is for ceremonial or religious purposes only. Although it has not always been so, most Vulcans are vegetarians, and do not touch food with their hands. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Guests in a Vulcan household are expected to arise before sunrise to prepare the morning meal. (ENT: "Home") Plomeek broth is considered a traditional Vulcan breakfast. (ENT: "Unexpected") For recreation, Vulcans "play" a game known as kal-toh. (VOY: "The Omega Directive", et al) Holidays * Kal Rekk * Rumarie * Tal-Shanar See also: *Vulcan Philosophy *Vulcan language *Vulcan salute Science and Technology *List of Vulcan starships *List of Vulcan starship classes (Pre-Federation) People *List of Vulcans *List of unnamed Vulcans Appearances * TOS: ** "Amok Time" ** "Journey to Babel" ** "The Savage Curtain" * TAS: ** "Yesteryear" * Star Trek Movies: ** Star Trek: The Motion Picture ** Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ** Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ** Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ** Star Trek: First Contact * TNG ** "The Schizoid Man" ** "Sarek" ** "Unification, Part I & Part II" ** "Gambit, Part I & Part II" * DS9: ** "The Forsaken ** "The Maquis, Part I & Part II" ** "Valiant" ** "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" ** "Afterimage" ** "Field of Fire" * VOY: ** "Innocence" ** "Meld" ** "Flashback" ** "Blood Fever" ** "Gravity" * ENT: ** "Broken Bow" ** "Breaking the Ice" ** "Fusion" ** "Fallen Hero" ** "Stigma" ** "Home" ** "The Forge" ** "Awakening" ** "Kir'Shara"